.

!NOTES:
See ROBERT COLE'S WORLD, pg. 247.

!NOTES:
Information about Matthew is primarily from his application fo r apension as
a Revolutionary War veteran (SQ pg 179). Nothing is said about his marriage
but we know he had a son John (SQ 582) married to Sarah Brooks.

!NOTES:
Reference to Mary SQ 1389.

Information based primarily on speculation posits that Mary's fullname was Rachel Mary (Sample) Sparks and was obtained on Page 11,478 ofthe IGI (International Genealogical Index) records of Maryland as ofMarch 1992. I received them by mail from an internet contact, Margaret(Mrs. James M .) McCain, 4535 Rota Circle, Fort Worth, TX 76133. Theprintout shows both the marriage and birth information relating toRachel. It is batch/film no 5025806, Sheet 47. (This speculation canbe laid to rest as a result of an article in the SPARKS QUARTERLY ofDecember, 2000, Whole No. 188, pp. xx to xxx.)
Under the notes for William Sample Sparks, it discusses his middlename and points out that his first use of it was in 1736. It also notesthat Joseph's wife was Mary and that a Rachel signed as a witness in theestate of Joseph. The Sparks Association wondered what was William'ssource of the name Sample. It is difficult to assume that he would haveused his uncle's wife's maiden name as his middle name. The articleabout William speculates that the Rachel who witnessed Joseph's estatedocuments may have been William's third wife. Could he have marriedJoseph's widow and, even if so, why was he using the name Sample as earlyas 1736 when Joseph didn't die until 1749?

Margaret McCain is researching the Sample family as her ancestors. AWilliam Sample came from Northern Ireland to America with the Alexanderfamily and settled in Maryland. His wife Esther (Garrison) is mentionedin his will dated January 26, 1769 and proved October 1769 in MecklenburgCounty, North Carolina. Witnesses were Joseph Alexander, AbigailAlexander and John McCorel. Children named in the will were John,Joseph, William b. 1736 in Cecil County, MD., and d. in Sep 1791 aged 55,in Mecklenburg. He married Elizabeth Alexander, dau. of James andAbigail (McKnitt) Alexander in 1760; Mary, m. Hezekiah Alexander, son ofJames and his first wife Margaret McKnitt. They had 11 children. MarySample Alexander died May 17 1806 aged 71. Both are buried at SugarCreek Presbyterian Church in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. EstherSample.
In order to be related to Rachel Sample, William Sr. would have beenher brother. It can be noticed that a granddaughter of Rachel (Jonas)was named Esther, perhaps after Rachel's mother.

.

!CENSUS:
See A COLLECTION OF 1851 CENSUS RECORDS FOR CORK COUNTY, IRELAND by
Josephine Masterson, Clearfield Company., page 80 Family number 437;Pigott, Mary, age 70, head of family, Town, Kilworth, widow. TownlandMonedrisane, Parish, Kilworth, page 47. Pigott, Mary, age 24, daughter(same)

!NOTE:
It is pure speculation that Mary (???) Pigott is the mother of Williamand grandmother of Cornelius Pigott. That conclusion is based solel y onthe fact that she is living in the town of Kilworth and is the onlywoman of the appropriate age to be William's mother. William was 47 inthis census. It is to be noted that the younger Mary above was born about1827 when her mother was 46 years of age. William's oldest child, hisson Dennis was born in 1829.
However, it is also to be noted that another William appears on thecensus (page 50) in Kilworth Parish, age 45, who is listed as a relativein the Barrett family (though how is difficult to ascertain). Thus ,there may be another Pigott family in the area to which the above Mary isrelated. Other Pigotts in the census of the four parishes in theKilworth a rea are included in addition to Mary and her daughter Mary asfollows (references to page numbers refer to the Census Collection abovereferenced):
pg. 14, family no. 180. Edmond Pigott, 40, laborer, Ballinvoher T/ S,Kilworth Parish, pg 16. Margaret 38, Ellen 16, Michael 6.
pg. 54, family no. 362. Margaret Pigott, 29, milliner, Kilworth T/ S,
Kilworth Parish, pg. 36; Johanna, 26, sister.
pg. 61, family no 363 (Norcott). Pigott, Catherine, 26, servant , Kil-
worth T/S, Kilworth Parish, pg 42.
The names of the single Pigott ladies, including the person who livedwith the elder Mary were Mary, Margaret, Johanna and Catherine. Thelatter three names are identical to the names of all three of William'sdaughters . These ladies were probably daughters of a brother of Williamor, possibly , were his younger sisters. We have no proof of anyrelationship at this time. (1995)

.

!NOTES:
See WILLS OF SPENCER COUNTY, KY., Book C, pg 392 for her estate wh ich
was probated after 1842 with son Lewis Stone as her administrator.

.

!NOTES:
Major Henry Rice died Nov 13 1800. He made a bequest to Phebe i n his
last will so she must have survived him.

This is the continuation of notes of William D. Sparks taken from anarticle in THE SPARKS QUARTERLY for June 2001, Whole No. 190, commencinghere at page 5384:

"The effort of William D. Sparks to assist his brother to obtain bountyland was not successful.

"We can assume that William reported his age to the County Clerk ofCooper County, Henry C. Levens, who then recorded it as 65 in the 1855application and as 67 in the 1857 affidavit. Because it was a Courtofficial to whom William reported his age and, in turn, swore under oaththat the documents were truthful, we believe that he would have madeevery effort to be accurate. It is on the basis of these documents thatwe conclude that William D. Sparks was born in or about 1790.

"It was with a steady hand that William signed his affidavit on March 27,1857, but he died some 16 months later, on August 7, 1858, according tothe date carved on his gravestone. His age at death, according to thecarver of the stone, was "In the 71. Yr." This would place his birth yearas about 1788, but just because something has been carved in stone doesnot make it true.

"We are indebted to Carol Hodge March for the photograph of hisgravestone shown on the following page. Her dramatic account of hersearch for nearly a quarter of a century for the grave site of William D.Sparks, with the hope for the existence of a stone marking that spot,involves mystery and fascinating detective work by a number of interestedparties who assisted her, including a local historian of Cooper County,Missouri, named Mrs. Helen Mitzel.

"When Mrs. March first corresponded with Mrs. Mitzel, she (Mrs. Mitzel)was aware of an abandoned cemetery site near the town of Palestine inCooper County, Missouri, in Township 47 N., Range 17 W., Section 18, nearwhere William D. Sparks owned land. Here we give only the report on theeventual discovery of the Sparks gravestone many years later when Mrs.March received a telephone call from a man in Cooper County named GenePainter. She recalls his words as follows:

"The grave and headstone were located on land now owned by June Gander ofBunceton, Missouri. This property is about 1+ miles south of our(Painter) farm. A now deceased cousin of Mrs. Mitzel had removed theheadstones about 15 years ago because they were in the middle of an areahe wanted to farm. My father, William Painter, was helping George rakehay in a field to the north and saw William D. Sparks's headstone in theditch. A few days later, he stopped along the road and loaded it up andbrought it home. I kept the stone by a honeysuckle bush at my previoushouse, and when I built a new home in 1984, took Mr. Sparks with me. Iused to sit on my patio and wonder who he was, what happened to hisfamily, and how he came to be in the area. I knew of no other people bythat name.

"Mrs. March further reports that about three years ago "the gravestone ofWilliam D. Sparks was placed in the Mt. Vernon Cemetery near PilotGrove, Missouri, where it now rests against a large tree trunk." Mrs.Mitzel had told Mrs. March earlier that this "little cemetery is theresting place of her great-grandparents and some of her husband'sancestors too, as well as other pioneers of that area. It seems fittingthat William D. Sparks has joined them!"

"The town of "Old Palestine" near where William D. Sparks was buried in1858 is now called Speed, Missouri.

"The three sons of William D. Sparks led interesting lives, an account ofwhich we plan to give in a future issue of the QUARTERLY. Of his twodaughters, we know little. Here we give an outline of what we know ofthese five children with the hope that some of our readers may recognizethem and provide us with additional information about them and theirdescendants.

****************

(CONTINUATION OF ARTICLE UNDER WILLIAM SAMPLE SPARKS, SPARKSQUARTERLY, December 1989, No. 148, at page 3493:)

"His route took him to Frederick, Maryland, (then to) Warrenton,Virginia, thence eastward to Amelia Court House, thence southward intoNorth Carolina where he hit the trading path near Granville Court House,thence on to Trading Ford.

"Another route followed the "Upper Pensylvania Road" which is found ona map of 1775, and shows that the route instead of turning eastward inVirginia towards Amelia Court House, continued down through theShenandoah Valley to Winchester, Salem, and into North Carolina where itstopped just about ten miles above Reedy Creek, a distance of 435 miles.Both of these routes were used a great deal by the immigrants coming intothis section.

"The great bulk of the settlers into the Yadkin Valley came via thesetwo routes. It is unique that settlement in this part of North Carolinatook place much faster than it did in counties to the east of Rowan.Immigration did not come from the eastern seaboard as was true inpractically every other county, but from North and South.

"The area in Rowan County where the Sparkses settled was called "TheForks of the "Yadkin River." This area was cut off from Rowan County in1836 to form Davie County. It is at the southern tip of what is nowDavie County that the South Yadkin River flows into the Yadkin River.The Yadkin above this point is sometimes called the "North Yadkin." TheCounty seat of Rowan County, Salisbury, is about nine miles south of thislower tip of Davie County. Whether "The Forks of the Yadkin" was thearea where the Sparkses planned to settle from the start, or whether theychose it after their arrival in Rowan County, will probably never beknown.

"Robert W. Ramsey in his book entitled Carolina Cradle, Settlement ofthe Northwest Carolina Frontier, 1747-1762 (Chapel Hill: The Universityof North Carolina Press, 1964) points out that prior to 1752, there werevirtually no settlers in the Forks of the Yadkin, where the land was"rockier, more hilly, and less fertile than the land further south." Headded:
"It was not until the choice land to the east and south had beenoccupied that settlers sought out homes in the forks of the Yadkin.The immigrants to this region were largely of English stock, thoughthere was a substantial number of Germans. Although the land grants ofmany are dated much later, a majority of these settlers wereundoubtedly living in the area prior to 1756." (p. 72)

" While the number of settlers in the Forks of the Yadkin was small atthe time of the Sparks family's arrival, there were a few familiespresent. James Carter had gone there from Augusta County, Virginia, in1747, but by 1753 he had obtained a 305-acre tract where Salisbury wasbeing laid out as Rowan County's seat of justice, and it is thought thathe had moved there by 1754. A man named Morgan Bryan had come to theForks of the Yadkin with his family from Virginia in 1747, and two yearslater, in May 1750, Squire Boone had come from Pennsylvania with hisfamily. Squire Boone's son, Daniel, who would become Kentucky's mostfamous pioneer, married Bryan's daughter, Rebecca, in 1755. Otherspresent when the Sparkses arrived included George Forbush, whom WilliamSample Sparks and his sons may have known back in Maryland; in the early1740s Forbush had lived in the "back parts" of Prince Georges County,Maryland. (These "back parts" of Prince Georges County became FrederickCounty in 1748.) Another settler already on the scene and who may havebeen known to William Sample Sparks, was Samuel Davis who, likewise, hadlived in the "back parts" of Prince Georges County from about 1738 until1747 when he had gone to North Carolina. Still another settler in thearea was Edward Hughes, originally from Pennsylvania, who had moved fromWallings Creek in the Valley of Virginia to the Forks of the Yadkin in1748.

"Robert W. Ramsey provides information regarding the above men in thechapter of Carolina Cradle entiled "In the Forks of the Yadkin,1752-1762,11 noting that the land on which they had settled had becomeknown as "the Bryan settlement" by 1752. This was in the upper(northern) part of today's Davie County, and extended over into thesouthern portion of what is now Yadkin County. Ramsey adds: 11 ... theonly entrance to the area was the way of the shallow ford, and thecrossing there was controlled by Hughes, Davis, Carter, Forbush, andBryan." (P.73)

"The "shallow ford" was the point where the Great Wagon Road fromPennsylvania and Maryland crossed the Yadkin just below the mouth of DeepCreek. It was in what is now Yadkin County, a mile or two north of thedividing line between Yadkin and Davie Counties. This was surely wherethe Sparkses crossed the Yadkin in 1754 to seek their homesteads andwhere they doubtless obtained information regarding the region furthersouth where the South Yadkin joins the Yadkin (or North Yadkin) River.

"It was a common practice for a settler on the Earl of Granville'sland to choose a site and to live upon it as a "squatter" for a number ofyears before purchasing it. One ran the risk, of course, that Granville'sagent might sell the tract to someone else, but apparently it was a riskworth taking to make certain that a wise selection had been made. Italso gave one time to save the necessary shillings to make the purchase.

"Matthew Sparks, whom we have identified as William Sample Sparks'ssecond son, chose a tract of land consisting of 372 acres at the very tipof what is now Davie County, where the South Yadkin flows into the YadkinRiver (or North Yadkin). It was not until April 4, 1761, however, thathe obtained a deed from Lord Granville's agent for this land--it had beensurveyed the previous year. (Rowan County Deed Book 4, p. 514) Matthewpaid GranviRe's agent 10 shillings sterling for his tract. We know alsofrom the early land records of Rowan County that Matthew Sparks builtwhat became known as "Spark's Fish Dam" on the Yadkin, which was a rathercomplex structure for catching fish which he probably shared with hisneighbors.

"Also in 1761 (December 21), David Bailey (or Bayley) obtained a deedto a tract of 235 acres along the Yadkin River about three miles abovethat of Matthew Sparks. He may well have accompanied the Sparkses to theForks of the Yadkin since he had been a close neighbor of theirs inFrederick County, Maryland. In fact, David Bailey's "plantation" hadbeen mentioned in the survey for a new road that had been made by MatthewSparks for Dr. Carroll in Frederick County in 1752. (It is interesting tonote that Matthew Sparks later named a son "Bailey Sparks"--was his namechosen to honor David Bailey?)

"Solomon Sparks, son of Joseph and first cousin of William SampleSparks, settled on land which also adjoined the Yadkin River, about 12miles (as the crow flies) north of Matthew Sparks's tract. On April 2,1761, he obtained his deed for this tract (250 acres) from Granville'sagent for 10 shillings in sterling. 6' (Rowan County Deed Book 4, p.389.) Then, on August 28, 1762, Solomon purchased (also for 10 shillings)290 additional acres adjoining his first tract. (Rowan County Deed Book5, p. 228.) [A map showing the location of Matthew's and Solomons landsappears in William's scrapbook.]

"As was noted earlier, William Sample Sparks seems never to have ownedany land in either Queen Annes County or in Frederick County, Maryland,and, likewise, he acquired none in Rowan County. From a later RowanCounty record, however, we know that he had a "dwelling house" in whichhe maintained an ordinary. Perhaps he built a home on the land owned byhis son, Matthew Sparks.

"James Sparks, Matthew's brother, was too young to acquire land whenthe family arrived at the Forks of the Yadkin, as was probably also trueof Solomon's brothers, Jonas and Jonathan. In all likelihood, JamesSparks lived with his parents for a number of years, perhaps on the landowned by Matthew Sparks, while Jonas and Jonathan probably lived withtheir brother, Solomon, for several years before establishing homes oftheir own.

"Records were sparsely kept in Rowan County during its early years,and, until settlers actually purchased land, the chances were slight thattheir names would be recorded in any county or colonial record. Manyyears would pass before there were organized churches where marriages,births, and deaths might be recorded. The earliest record we have foundpertaining to a Sparks in Rowan County is dated June 1756 when thejustices of the Salisbury District Superior Court were sitting. PeterArrand (or Aaron), who was a Rowan County settler as early as 1753, wasaccused of a "Felony that is to say Buggery [i.e. sodomy]." Among thewitnesses was James Sparks. Another witness was Edward Hughes whom wehave mentioned earlier. A jury found Arrand "Not guilty. (For the earlyminutes of this court, see a transcript begun in Vol. I, No. 1, February1986, of the Rowan County Register.)

"Although our earliest reference to "William Sample Sparks" in RowanCounty is dated January 1762, we have no doubt that the "Will Sparks" whowas a member of a jury on January 22, 1757, was actually William SampleSparks. Since there was no other William Sparks in Rowan County at thattime, and because the clerk keeping a record of the court's proceedingsmade the entries as brief as possible, there was no reason for him to useany fuller name than this. (See Abstracts of the Minutes of the Court ofPleas and Quarter Sessions, Rowan Counfy-, North Carolina, 1753-1762, byJo White Linn, 1977, p. 70.) This particular jury trial involved anunspecified charge against Andrew Pitts. The 12-man jury of whichWilliam Sample Sparks was a member, found the defendant innocent.William Sample Sparks again served on a jury for the same court on July23, 1757. In the minutes for this case, his name was recorded as "WmSparks." This case was brought by Joseph Harrison against James Berry fora debt; again, the jury found for the defendant. (see p. 77) Matthew andSolomon Sparks did not begin serving on juries until 1761, the year inwhich they purchased their land from the Earl of Granville.

"In January 1762, William Sample Sparks requested the Court of Pleasand Quarter Sessions for Rowan County to grant him a "Licence to keepOrdinary." Since this request involved his presenting a formal, writtenpetition, it is not surprising that his full name should appear. Therequest itself was not recorded, but the following entry was made in thecourt's minutes for January 19, 1762: "Ordered that Mr. William SampleSparkes have Licence to keep Ordinary." The justices who granted thelicense were William Giles (who owned four tracts of land in the Forks ofthe Yadkin not far from Matthew Sparks's land), Edward Hughes, and JohnFrohock, both of whom have been mentioned earlier. An three judgesdoubtless knew William Sample Sparks personally, and the fact that theyreferred to him as "Mr." is significant. "Mr. 11 was then a title usedonly for men of high standing in their community, who had establishedthemselves as gentlemen of integrity. While obviously a tradesman,inn-keeper to be exact, rather than a land owner and farmer, WilliamSample Sparks had achieved a rather high degree of status in RowanCounty. (Bottom SQ pg 3496)

{These notes are concluded in the notes for James, son of WilliamSample Sparks and Mary Courman.}

For marriage record source see SQ p. 4183.

.

!WILL:
See Will Book 29, p 168, Records of St. Mary's County, MD for:
The Last Will of Teresia Ford
In the name of God Amen I Teresia Ford o fSaint
Marys County, widow and Relict of Robert Ford being sick and wea k ofbody
but of sound perfect and disposing mind and memory, thanks be to G od,do
make ordain Constitute, and appoint my Last Will and Testament i nmanner
and form following, that is to say, I Recommend my soul to almight yGod
my saviour and Redeemer, and my body to the Earth, to be decentl yburied,
at the discretion of my Executors heretofore named, and as to suc hworldly
Estate, as it hath pleased God to bless me with I give and bequeat hthe
same in manner following.
Imprimis I give and bequeath unto James Neale son of Henry Neale o fCobneck
deceased, and of Mary Neale now intermarried with John Lancaster, al lthat
one fifth part of a Tract of Land, lying in Saint Marys County calle d the
Chancellors point, which on a writt of partition was formerly allote d toAnne
Bladon, which fifth part of Land cobounded as followeth to wit, beginning at
the end of a Line drawn south fifty one and an half degrees, west for thper-
ches, and Running from the end of the said Line, South Thirty eight degrees
East Eighty two perches, then north eight degrees East sixty four perches,
then North sisty six perches to the division line, between John Park e and
Teresia his wife, and Anne Bladon Widow which said Line now Running w est
twenty five degrees, South one hundred and fifty two perches, to th ebegin-
ning of the said anne Bladon Land, Quantity seventy three acres, an dforth
perches to have and to hold the same Land unto him the said James Nea lehis
heirs and assignes forever, together with the improvements and othe rconven-
iences and appurtenances thereunto belong, and my will and desire i sthat if
said James Neale should die without heirs, that then the same Land should re-
main unto Gerard Neale brother unto the said James, and his heirs an dassigns
forever -
Item I give and bequeath unto Teresia Neale daughter of the aforesaid
Henry and Mary, one Large Black Leather Trunk, that belonged to me be fore
my intermarriage with my late husband, and all my wearing apparel, an dother
things that are therein contained, also one Chest of Drawers, and a S mall
Round Table, the same of the Chest of Drawers; all the Rest of my wea ring
apparel, I give to Susannah Craycroft, wife of Charles Craycroft of Charles
County -
Item I give and bequeath unto William Gardiner son of Richard Gardiner,
one negro girl named Mildred now in his said father's possession -
Item I give and bequeath unto Mary Thompson wife of Michael Thompson
one plain Gown, and one blue Quilted petticoate and a cow and calf -
Item Whereas before my intermarriage with my late husband, I di dby a
deed make over and convey unto Benjamin Tasker Esq several negroes , I do
hereby Request the said Benjamin Tasker to give one negro wench, name dMary
and her youngest child to Susannah Craycroft, wife of Charles Craycro ft
during her life and after her death to her two youngest Children tha t are
now born -
Item I give and bequeath unto Sarah Craycroft Daughter of Charl esCray-
croft, one Dubleloon or four pistoles -
Item I give and bequesth unto Henrietta Neale Daughter of the s aid
Henry and Mary one mourning Ring -
St. Marys County SS February the 5th 1754 -
Then John Hall of St Marys County Attorney at Law being sworn on t heHoly
Evangels and deposeth and sayeth that on the 31st Decembr in the yea r ofour
Lord 1753 - he was desired by the aforementioned Mrs Ford, being at t hattime
sick and weake to draw her will, which he according set down to do, a ndwrote
as she directed him this deponent the several devises & bequests in t hewill,
or writing, wherein the present affidavid is made and to which the sa meis
subjected, contained, that it being late at night when this deponen t hadfin-
ished the aforesaid several Devises, and bequests, the aforesaid Mr sFord de-
sired him to take care of the sd Will or writing amongst other papers ,and
put them in his pocket till morning, which at her Request he did; tha ton the
day following being the 5th January 1754 the said Mrs Ford Departed t hisLife,
without signing sealing and Executing the sd Will or writing, and thi sdepon-
ant further sayeth that at the time of her making the sd Several Devises, and
bequests the sd Mrs Ford was to the best of his knowldege and apprehension of
sound and disposing mind, and memory; Sworn to before me, Thos Aisqui thDepty
Commiss of St Marys County.